Chrysophanol ameliorates high-fat diet-induced obesity and inflammation in neonatal rats

Chrysophanol is a member of the anthraquinone family abundant in rhubarb, a widely used herb for obesity treatment in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Though several studies have indicated numerous features of chrysophanol, no study has yet reported the effect of chrysophanol on juvenile obesity. In this study, we tried to identify the anti-obesity effects of chrysophanol by using high-fat diet (HFD)-induced rats as in vivo models. In HFD rats, chrysophanol treatment decreased body weight, blood glucose and the blood level of triglyceride (TG), and enhanced the level of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C). In addition, chrysophanol markedly reduced lipid accumulation in HFD rats-derived primary hepatocytes. Moreover, chrysophanol effectively relieved HFD-induced inflammation, as demonstrated by the reduction of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1β and the elevation of IL-10. Furthermore, chrysophanol markedly increased the levels of lipolytic genes and decreased the expressions of lipogenic genes in HFD rats, which was probably benefited from the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/ Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1). Taken together our study has demonstrated that chrysophanol could improve the HFD-induced obesity and provided a molecular basis for chrysophanol potential applications in the treatment of juvenile obesity and other metabolic diseases.